Milan

We reached Milan by train which was one of the most stress-free and enjoyable journeys I’ve ever had the pleasure to take.

On the return to London we decided to fly back on BA. It was a short 1 hour 40 minute hop back to London and BA were serving afternoon tea on board.

The regular meal consisted of sandwiches, a choice of hot quiche, scones with clotted cream and jam. Thank heavens I’d ordered a gluten free meal and it had been loaded!

So what was in store for me?

A prawn salad with some lettuce and what appeared to be an entire cucumber chopped on the side. Anyone who knows me in real life knows I love all veggies, except….cucumber, which I think is the devil’s food.

Perched on the side of the tray was a bread roll, swiped before I took the photo. The stewardess told me she had a Coeliac mother and said I ought to be careful with since it didn’t look gluten free and certainly wasn’t labelled as such. Exactly the same thing happened on our flight back from Istanbul (see post) except this time the outcome was different. Mr D (my personal guinea pig!) tried it and declared this one to be a regular gluten roll. It was just too springy, it didn’t crumble and it certainly smelt just like regular bread. Absolutely no chance of me eating it. Also on the tray was some clotted cream and strawberry jam, which should have gone with the bread, both donated to Mr D.

I decided I was hungry and as the stewardess reached over me to give Mr D extra scones to make up for me not being able to eat them, I resolved to eat it. All of it. Cucumber included.

So how did it taste? I discovered the prawns were in fact quite large, although they’d been tucked under the lettuce so it wasn’t immediately obvious. And how about the cucumber? My first bite nearly blew my head off! The specks of red are in fact fiery fresh red chilli. Normally this might be a problem but since all I could taste was the chilli, and not the grim cucumber, it wasn’t so bad.

As I looked down at my tray of pure health (albeit airline stylee), a single thought struck me. What on earth has happened to me? I eat gluten free and am no longer ill (admittedly a fantastic thing!). My coffee cup is empty since I’ve stopped drinking caffeine. The usual glass, or to be honest several glasses, of wine I usually enjoy on a flight has been replaced by a glass of fruit juice since I’m on the wagon for the next couple of months. It’s even been 8 years since I last smoked. Really….I need some new vices. Any ideas for legal and healthy highs?!

Hello! I'm Siân, a London based coeliac with a nut allergy. I believe very passionately that having a food allergy shouldn't hold you back from exploring near and far - and nor should me being a mum to young twins!